2 dead after shooting near Office Max store in Porterville

The shooting happened just outside of the Office Max store on Henderson Avenue and Prospect Street in Porterville.

Porterville police say two men were transported to Sierra View Hospital where they were both pronounced dead a short time later due to gunshot wounds. The driver of the second vehicle was uninjured and has been detained by Porterville Police pending further investigation.

"We had received a call of shots being fired in front of Office Max. Apparently there had been some sort of altercation between the occupants of the brown vehicle and white vehicle in the parking lot," Lt. John Hall from the Porterville Police Department said.

During the argument shots were fired killing two people in a brown SUV. The SUV later crashed into another white SUV that was involved in the shooting. The crash occurred less than a block away from Office Max, on Henderson Avenue.

"When officers arrived on scene they were given a direction of travel and as they checked the direction of travel they happened upon the traffic collision," Hall said.

Chrisha Slate who witnessed the shooting was next door to Office Max at the time heard the gunfire. She said she immediately hit the ground.

"I was at Food 4 Less and I heard three to four gunshots and saw someone running with a gun," Slate said.

The case is being investigated by Porterville police and no names have been released.